Larsen, Don

Larsen, Don (James)

(1929–  ) baseball pitcher; born in Michigan City, Ind. He was known during his 21 years in organized baseball as a colorful, old-fashioned, fun-loving player of average major league abilities. But on October 8, 1956, in the fifth game of the New York Yankees-Brooklyn Dodgers World Series, with his 97th and final pitch of the day, Larsen struck out Dodgers pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell and became the only pitcher in baseball history ever to pitch a perfect World Series game (2–0). During his career Larsen pitched for nine major league teams and had a mediocre 81–91 record. Upon retirement (1968) he became a salesman for the Blake-Moffit & Towne paper company of San Francisco.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.